Elevator-signal.



R. H. GAYLORD & G, B. CAPPS.

ELEVATOR SIGNAL. APPLICATION msu 1ULY25,11914.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

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R. H. GAYLORD 61,6. cAPPs.

ELEVATOR SIGNAL. APPLICATHJN min 1uLY25,19l4.

L ,1 34,448,- Patented Apr. 6, 1915.'

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UNITED- sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT H. GAYLORD, OF PASADENApAND GUY B. CAPIS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA,

ASSIGNORS TO FOULKES-GAYIORD COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A.

CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

EnEvAToE-SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Y

Patented Apn, 1915.

' Application filed July 25, 1914. Serial No. 853.222.

T all whomit may concern.' Be it known that we, ROBERT H. GAYLORD, residing atV P agadena'and GUY B. CAPPS, yresiding at Los Angeles, inthecounty of ESS-'Los Angelesland State of California, citizens of thernited lStates, haven-'invented av new and useful lElevator-Signal, of which lthe -following is a specification;

Our invention relates `to thatclassl of ele vater signaling systems in which a signal is given in `an elevator" car, by the operation of some Jform of circuit closing devices, generally push buttons, placed at the various floor landings, and in which the car signal is s o controlled by the movement of the car that it i doesenotbecome operative until the car is within a definite distance, say about two fioors, from "the oorat which the signal originated. Such a' signalin `system isv shown, in patent to James B. malley and Charles A. Reiners, dated July 24th, 1906,

No. 826,752, and for the purpose of illustra.`

. tion We have shown our invention as applied in' connection with a system such as disclosed in said patent, but it will be under* stood that the invention is applicable in connection lwith any signaling system in which the car signal is controlled by the position of the car and by circuit closersat the landings. In a signal system of this kind, it is 'not advisable to st the mechanism so that the car signal will become operative in eX- cess of one and three-quarter floors ahead of the floor thesignal is given from, for the reason that if the signal were given two or more floors ahead, the operator would not know which one of such floors the signal was l would result.

coming from and confusion and loss of time Take for example, a case where the car signal is set to become operativc twofioors in advance, and assume that' the car on its up trip hasarrived atthe. second fioor landing andtheup ush button calls. The operator must then so control his car that he can. stop at the third Hoor, and finding no passenger at this door, he' knows that the call originated from the fourth evident that setting the car signal in excessk greatly add to the confusion. It is customlof ytwo Hoor landings in advance w'ould" ary to overcome this di'fiiculty by setting the lcar signal approximately one and.,l threeq iiartei floors in advancevof the flbor the signal is given from, and to so adjust the mechanism that no signal can be given the cai', from the 4immediate floor in," advance,

while the car is traveling the last three- .quarters of the aforesaid floor height. This one and three-ipiaitlers Hoor advance `is\ at a disadvantage in the operation ot high speed elevators, on account of the difficulty of bringing the car to a stop, in so short a7 space oi trayehon receiving a signal.

The principal ob]ect oi this invention is to provide means whereby the operato-r can tell at a glance, whether the'signal received is f from the iiooi" farthest ahead, withinthe control range of the mechanism, or whether,` the signal is from a nearer floor, anda" f further object of' the invention is to accomplish this result with but a single indicator in operation at any one time.

Another objecto the invention is to cause the caisignal to be normally held ini-endiness to give an advance signal when it approaches say within twol loorsyof al landing calling for -a stop, and to automatically change the car signal to a full stop signal when the car approaches Within say one Hoor of such-landing., and to maintain this stop condition of the car signal as long` as f there is a calling landing within one floorL height ahead of the car, so that if a numberr .of consecutive landings call for stops, the

stop signal will he maintained continuously as such landings are successively approached,

and the car signal will only change to its normal condition for receiving an advance `signal, when it approaches a ioor that docsi4 l l `lnot call for a Stol y n Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a plan viewA of the cominutator foiythc signal circuits. Fig. 2 is al section on line.2--:c2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line :r3-m3 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a'section n line @i4-v4 in Fig. 8. Fig. 5 isa diagram of the circuit connections. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the circuitcloser for locking the BEST AVAlLABLE COP calling circuit closed until the car is in position to receive the call. Fig. 7 is an eleva tion of a modied form of the car signal.-

The commutator may be constructed substantially as shown in the patent above referr-ed to, comprising, for example, a frame 1, having hide plates 2 of insulating material, on which are 'supported -contacts for cooperating with brushes mounted on frames 3, pivoted on arms 4 of a carrier 4, formed as a nut working on a screw 6. Said screw is driven by suitable means indicated at 7, connected to the elevator sheave, so that the carrier will be moved longitudinally along the screw, by rotation-of the screw in the nut, in correspondence with the motion of the elevator car in which the signals are. to be given. As screw 6 rotates, it tends to turn the carrier 4 one way or the other, according to the direction of rotation of the screw, such turning of the carrier being limited by engagement of an ann 5 on the carrier d with a guide means 8, so that when, the screw is .turning in either direction the carrier arms l will be tipped in that direction, lowering the brush frame 3 at one side andl raising the brush frame 3 at the`other side.

The fixed-contacts en the plate 2 at one side of Vvthe device comprise a long metalhc stri ,Contact 10 and a series of short meta Ac contacts 11 adjacent thereto, these conta serving for resetting the circuit closers hereinafter described, and a long metallic contact 12 land a series of short rnetallic contacts 13 adjacent thereto, serving for control of the car signal. A pair of brushes 14 mounted in a brush holder 1Q on the frame 3.atvone side of carrier 4 travel over the contacts 10 and 11 so as to make metallic connection therebetween when the carrier is tipped so as to lower ese brushes; said brushes both traveling n thenpper conta'ct strip 10 when the carrier is tipped so as to raise these brushes. The frame 3 at this same side of carrierA 4 also carries a brush holder 16 in which is mounted a pair of brushes 17, adapted to travel over the contact strip 12 and contacts 13 when the said frame is in lowered position, to make metallic connection between long contact strip 12 and each of thc short contacts 13 successively, and said brushes being both adapted to travel on the upper contact strip 12 when the said frame 3 is in raised position. A pair of brushes 18 is supported in brush holder 1G in advance of the brushes 17 so that connection between contact strip 12 and any of the 'contacts 13 is made firstby the brushes 18 and then by' the brushes 17.v The brushes 17 are electrically connected, for example, by the vmetal of brush holder 16, but brushes 18 are insulated from said brush holder by insulatingl bushings 19, and a resistance 20 is iiieluded in a connection between these brushes 18, to provide for controlof the prelimi- .nary signal, as hereinafter described.r Th

several brushes 14, 17, 18, may be provided with springs 9 for maintaining Contact provided on the plates '2 on the other side of the device, coperating with brushes 14', 17', 18 on thel frame B'ut the other side of carrier 4, the brushesA 14, 17, 18 beingy in operative cposition wlmnthecarrier is tip d in one irection andfis traveling, say, orwardl on the screw'g'due to downward motion o the elevator, and;r the brushes 14', 17 18', on the othersde operative sition when the carrieif is tippe'din the opposite direction "and," is traveli "chuckwnrdly, due to ascentfof ythe. elevator car. The up and down plih buttons 21.!nd 22, for the different floors of the building; are shown as controlling fthe *signal circuits in*` directly, through vided with operating magnets 25 and with resetting magnets 26,1118 in the atent afore said, the circuit closins being ormed as levers, normally held in raised openposition by the armatures 27 `1of" magnets and fall` ing to position, to clos'e Contact with fixed contacts 24, when anhntures 27 are .released therefrom by energization of magnets 25.

Levers 23 are formedfas armatures `for the respective resetting magnets 26, which reset them to normal positio The car signal device shown kin Fig.' 5 comprises two electric lamps, which may be differently colored, for, example, a green lamp 30 for a preliminary or advance signal, and a red lamp 31 for a stop signal and electromagnetically controlled means such as solenoid or magnet 32, having armature lever 32 coperating with-contacts 33 and 34:, to switch one or the other of these lamps into circuit, according to the strength of the current passingl to the signal device.

The circuit connections, as shown in Fig. 5 for a single elevator shaft, are as follows: From a battery orsource 35 4oflow tension current, a wire 36 leads t'o push buttons 21 and 2.2. From thc up buttons 21`brnnch cir cuit wires or lines 37 lead through the controlling magnets 25 for the up circuit closers, back to the other battery lead 38. From the down push buttons 22 branch circuit lines or wires 39 lead through the down control magnets 25 to a battery leads 38, From battery lead 36 a Wire 42 lends through transfer switch 52 in the elevator car to wires 43, 43 leadin respectively to longitudinal contactslO an 10 of the commutator, and from the contacts 11 and 11' i of the commutator, branch circuit wires 41 and 41 lead through the resetting magnets circuit closers 23, proio nected through wires 49 and 49y to the down "it l'e battery lead38. The energizing circuit BEST AVM-AELE Crip meses, L

. 28 v lthe up.'l and down circuitniclosers re s ,elctively,.to wires 40 and 40""1eading to 'f0,i" thesignal devi'ce may comprise leads 45 l and-.46fconnected to any suitable means for supplying lighting current, for example to a dynamo, 47, rlead 45 being connected by' wires 48:"and48 tothe long contacts 12 and I 1,2 ofjfthe commutatorv'at lthe down and up sides respectively, and lead 46 `being conand up circuit closers 23 .from which the Y .'.connection is continued by wires 51 and 51 "tothe respective contacts 13 and 13 att-he "down and up sides of the commutator..u

In the patent above 4referred to there are i shown .other devices, suchV as; floor signals and controlling circuits therefor, which are i 4not herein shown, as they form no part of yzo the present invention, and the parts of the commutator which control the circuits for i such devices are also'omitted.l

, The operation is as'follows: Assuming that one ofthe 'down buttons 22 has been operated, so as to close the circuit of ba tery 35, current vwill flo Y from said battery through lead 36 to t e down push button which has been operated, tothe corresponding -branch circuit wire 39, and magnet 25 ',therein, land back tobattery 35tlirough lead 38. Magnet 25 then operates its armature 27 causing the circuit Acloser 1everf23 to be released andto fall to position to close cirbrushes 17 and 18 are caused to traverse the cuit connection from dynamo 47 through Wires 46 and 49, to Contact 13 ofthe commutator. As the elevator car ascendsL the contacts 12 and 13 so as to successively bring the car'signal contact 12 into connection' with the contacts 13- connected tothe circuit closers, and `when the brushes 18 make such a connection with the 'contact to which circuit connection has been previously made from the operated circuit closer 23 as above set forth, a preliminary signal circuitl is established as follows: from 'current source 47 through lead 45 and' wire 48 to contact 12 of the commutator through one of the brushes 18 resistance 20 and the other `brush 18 to'coiitact 13 thence through wire 51 to circuit' closer 23 and by 'wire 46 back to the'source 47. The current flowing in this circuit is insuiiicient to operate the switch solenoid 32 for the car signal', so that l only the preliminary or advance signal lamp 30 is energized, giving a preliminary signal to the operator, this action taking place when the car is say two 'floors' above the calling Hoor. As the car continues to descend, the brushes 17 pass on to the aforesa1d.con-

tact 13 of the` commutator, establishing a circuit independent of the resistance 20, the circuit being otherwise the same as above traced, and the current flowing therein being suiiicient to energize the magnet or solenoidf32 and causethe armature 32 thereof to operate to shift the connection of the signal circuit from lamp 30 to the stop signal lamp 31, so as tor notify the operator thatl the next floor re uires a stop.y As the car passes the Hooi-,qtlie brush 14 passes over the resetting contact 11', corresponding to that floor, and, assuming that the operator leaves the transfer' button closed,` current will flow from battery 35 through lead 38 wire 40, resetting magnet 26, contact 11, brushes 14, contact 10, and wii'e42 back to the battery. the resetting magnet \being thereby op Iatedto release the circuit closer 23 and allow it to return to its normal open osition. The operation for the upsignals is the same as above described, the reversal of motion oi the car' when it begins/,to ascend, causing the screw G to turn/jin the reverse direction andthe. c rricr 4- to /ti'r the other way'rso` as'to move' the up bruslidi; 14 into the contact 10 and the brushes 1 and 18 onto the contact 12, in which .position they are inoperative,y and at the/same time moving the brushes 17/1'8 and 14 on theu'p side olthe carrier, down into en-y gagement with the selective contacts 11I 1 and the resetting contacts 13'/ respectively; these vbrushes rthenA moving back longitudinally For example, instead of the two lamps 1 shown in Fig. l, a single lamp may ber used,

the difference in luminosity of the lamp due to `diil'erence of current strength in the signal circuit, indicating the (liiierentiation between preliminary and stop signals. Thus, by means of a switch '53, see Fig. 5, the signal switch magnet 32 may be open circuited, the car signal device then consisting only of a single lamp 30. operating as stated. 0i', as shown in Fig. 7, the car signal device may consist of a single lamp 54 Vand. a screen 55, provided with windows 56 and 57 of green and red glass respectively, said screen being operated by a magnet 58 acting on an armature 59 connected to 4the screen.- Normally the green window 56 is in front of lamp and when the lamp is energized by a relatively weak current'in the car signal circuit, the screen is heldin normal position by the action of a spring 60aiid a green light, for an advance or preliminary signal is exhibited, but when a assi AvAiLaere ccs What we claim is:

1. In an elevator signaling system, -the combination of a car signal device, floor circuit closers and means controlled by the said floor circuit closers and by the movement of the car to operate said car signal device to first give a preliminary-signal, and then, in the further movement of the car, to give a stop signal.

2. In an elevator signaling system, a car signal device adapted to respond to currents of different strength to give distinctive preliminary and -stop signals, an energizing circuit for said signal device, and means controlled by the movement of the elevator car to control said circuit to send a current of definite strength through the car signal device to give a preliminary signal when the car reaches a certain point and to send a current of different strength through said signal device, to give a stop signal when the car reaches another point.

,3. In an elevator signaling system, a car signal device, an energizing circuit provided with a plurality of branches, push buttons at diderent floors and means controlled thereby to control the respective branches, a circuit controlling means controlled by the movement of thc elevator car and adapted to put the cai' signal device successively in connection with said branch circuits, said circuit controlling means being provided with a resistance and with means for first including such resistance in the connection established to the car signal and to then cut out such resistance, to give a preliminary signal and to respond to the current Aflowing through such circuit ivhen such resistancc is cut out to give a stop signal.

4. In an elevator signaling system, the combination with a car signal device provided With means for distinctively indicating a stop signal and a preliminary signal, controlling circuits for said signal device including a plurality ot push buttons, means controlled by the movement of an elevator car for bringing said signal device successively under control of the respective con trolling circuits, said car controlled means being provided with means for closing a circuit connection to control the signal device to give a preliminary signal and to thereafter close a connection to the signal device to give a stop signal.

' tacts A 5. In an elevator signalin system, the combination of a car-operate circuit controlling means, provided with contacts for cloiin a stop signal circuit, and with con- ?or closing a connection for giving 'a preliminary signal, and a car si al means connected to said circuit control ing means and responsive to closure of the preliminary signal contacts of the circuit controller to give a preliminary signal.

6. In an elevator signaling system, a car signal device, an energizing circuit therefor having a plurality of branches, circuit closers in the respective branches of said circuit, controlling circuits including push buttons and also including operating means for said circuit closers, alresistance, a car operated circuit controlling means provided with contacts connected in the respective branch circuits aforesaid and adapted to put the car signal device successively in connection with the respective branch circuits first through said resistance, and then independently of said resistance, to send successive current impulses of different strength through the car signal device, said car signal device being adapted to respond to such currents of different strength to give distinctive preliminary' and stop signals.

7. QIn an elevator signaling system, the combination with a plurality of circuit closers for different floors, of ucar signal device and n commutator operated by the movement of the car to put the car signal device successively under the control of different circuit closers, said car signal device being provided With-.means for giving distinctive preliminary nd stop signals, and being normally in condition to receive a .preliminary signal, and means controlled by the movement of the car and by said circuit closers to control said car signal device to change it to condition for a stop si al whenever a circuit closer for the next rger ahead has been operated and to maintain it in such condition as the car successively approaches tivo-consecutive floors for which the circuit closers have-been operated, so as to give a stop signal Withoutgiving"l a preliminary signal under such conditions.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands, at Los Angeles, California, this 17th day of July 1914.

ROBERT H. GAYLORD. GUY B. CAPPS. Witnesses:

ARTHUR P. KNIGHT,

Manx Boar.. 

